MS has chomped on 6gb of my hard drive space...

and I can't get it back without a format!???

I installed the vista trial a while back, and recently went to re-use the drive.

I've got all my disk backups on this drive, and I notice a big 6gb "hole" in it, which is the "Windows" folder.

When I click delete it says I dno't have access. Those b******s :/

So, in XP *HOME*, is there no workaround or, as I suspect, am I going to have to re-format this drive to get that back?

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well i am no longer using vista, i am in XP Home now.

there are a *lot* of folders to do the above to ;)

The GParted Live CD has served me quite well when it comes to rearranging drive partitions.

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php

Of course, if that isn't a partition...
Assuming that you have some knowledge of the Linux command line, you can use the terminal there to mount the hard drive to /needwrite/fake, then rm -r /needwrite/fake/WINDOWS to remove it. (Careful!)
There is probably a better solution out there; I just use the live CD there because I have it already.

.

Why do people even bother trying Vista?

Just do a reformat and reinstal. Its good for the soul. hahahahahahah

> Why do people even bother trying Vista?

Exactly! Sorry Cygnus that you had to find out the hard way about Vista.

Well, some people always have to have the newest stuff.

Even if it's worse then the old one in many aspects. ;)

I installed Vista at some point and got rid of it without reformatting, but I don't remember how, it was many months ago.

You could try using Unlocker to delete the folders
http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

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In order to get access to the security permissions in the Home version of Windows XP, you need to restart into Safe Mode by holding F8 during boot-up. Once you are in Safe Mode, an extra tab will be added to Folder Properties which allows you to grant access permissions as seen in Windows XP Professional.

Hahahahahahaaaa you use XP home? You don't deserve hard drive space.


Why do you bother posting? Seemed like a good idea at the time, huh?


That's not learning the hard way about Vista, that is learning the hard way about XP Home.


That's a fantastic tip. Would never have known you could do that... Thanks Seb!

Does XP HOME work when you're on the train or on holiday away from home?

*sound of Grinding Gears*

What kind of people come here these days?

The problem is that Vista shoved some stupid access rights on its files. Problem solved, i copied my 4gb of other data onto my external drive, formatted, and copied back. Took all of 5mins.

I don't get why you lot bother posting half the dollop you do!

I'd like to know exactly what features are missing from Home that are actually useful to me in Pro? I've not had a problem with Home at all. I *could* use Pro if i thought it worth the extra cash :/ as it is, £56 for an OEM copy is bad enough :/

Anyway, thanks Seb- I've used both XP Pro AND home for quite some time now, and never knew of that tip :)

Resist all you want. You WILL eventually be using Vista if you plan on staying on Microsoft's platform (either personally, or to support those you're making games/software for).

This is cyclical and the same types of people complain everytime around (heard and saw the exact same resistance and moaning about 2000... then XP... Everyone eventually gets on board.)

THAT said, I personally am never an early adopter of Microsoft's OS's. I usually wait until the first service pack before I upgrade.

Well, I won't. At the point XP becomes unusable (will take 5-6 years I think) I'll switch to Linux.

I only downgraded to XP again to be legal and to keep stability and comaptibility at a decent level ;)

Yes, extra security on core system files is a bad thing. Apparently.

Oooh I can smell the sarcasm from here... :P

Listen, you're cold and antisocial, so bug off. =P

Surly Derryn Hinch looks like Saddam Hussein.

Being that Derryn knows what Saddam looked like, but Saddam probably didnt know what Derryn looked like

(But Yes)

Haha :) And you're Cocky and Playful..

Oh OK, I'll admit it. I asked for the problem, I just wish there was a way the admin of the system could sort it out without a wipe. Xp's features in home OR pro never solved the issue.

Thats why you install Vista on a seperate 10GB partition, then when you're done, delete it and merge it back into your main partition.

Other than that, you might be able to use a Linux Live CD to get in there, you'll need NTFS read/write enabled on you're kernel build.